“Tractor” on shootouts snatched victory from “Motorist”

Traktor continued its home series with a duel against Avtomobilist. Wards of Anvar Gatiyatulin outplayed the guests, but they won only in a shootout. Goals from Chelyabinsk on account of Nikita Soshnikov, Anton Burdasov and Mikhail Rolgizer. We note the cool game of Soshnikov, who not only scored, but also converted the post-match bullet. Also, the decisive realized attempt on the account of Maxim Shabanov.

For the fifth match, Traktor’s roster has hardly changed. The only change with the game against SKA two days ago is the reserve goalkeeper Kirill Ustimenko instead of Ilya Proskuryakov. The first number is already familiar – Sergey Mylnikov.

Traktor started this meeting noticeably slower than their recent games. Avtomobilist supported the proposed pace and opened the scoring. Forward guests Curtis Volk was quicker than everyone on the penny and broke through Sergei Mylnikov. But the teams went to the break with an equal score. Nikita Soshnikov converted the majority of “Tractor” by accurately breaking into the far nine.

The second period turned out to be extremely interesting and spectacular. “Tractor” finally turned on and turned up the speed and it paid off. First, Vladimir Tkachev scored, but the goal was canceled by the decision of the judges. Then Anton Burdasov scored the first goal in a quick counterattack in 2023. And literally in the next episode, Mikhail Rolgizer scored his third goal in the KHL. Note that the transfer to him through the board was made by Temu Pulkkinen. Also, Avtomobilist did not sit on the defensive, but missed their chances. The most dangerous one was when Traktor’s defender Rob Hamilton put the puck out from behind the net directly onto the guest attacker’s penny, but Sergei Mylnikov came to the rescue.

In the second period, the hosts calmed down the game and for the time being it seemed that they would be able to avoid a repeat of the last match with the same opponent (recall that then Avtomobilist equalized the score 0.016 seconds before the end of normal time). But the judges frankly “pulled out” the guests who failed the match. Nick Ebert and Brooks Maysek, after two consecutive penalties at Traktor, equalized with the goalkeeper removed. 3:3 and the game went into overtime, and then into shootouts, where, fortunately, Chelyabinsk players were lucky. At the hosts, Nikita Soshnikov, Vladimir Tkachev and Maxim Shabanov realized their attempts.

4:3 victory on shootouts in a match where Traktor was head and shoulders stronger. “Motorist” did not deserve any points in this game. In Chelyabinsk, Nikita Tertyshny should be criticized, who once again scored misses on an empty net. Despite the love of the fans, there are questions about the appropriateness of such trust in a player who is clearly in crisis. Traktor will play the next match on January 8 at home against the reigning champion CSKA.